lots of problems

[2500sierra81]

my truck has lots of little issues that i havent had time to take care of since my truck is also my daily driver. now that its almost summer and i'll be out fo school i think i'll have time to take care of some. but i have soem questions

1. when i drive my truck over 65mph on the highway the front end starts wobbling and bouncing. is it misbalanced wheels or something, or suspension? speakign of suspension my front left squeaks a lot. good bad? any quick fixes?

2. so a mechaninc i talked to said my carb hasn't been adjusted since it left the factory. i was thinking of getting the whoel engine tuned up or at lest have the carb tuned up because my gas mileage has steadily gotten worse the more i drive my truck and my exhaust has quite a bit of black soot. a carb specialist in my area said he could do a good carb tune for 200 bucks. is that too much?

3. my differential has always had this kind of oily sheen on it and it is also on the bottom of the bed. good/bad?

4. oil pressure gag on dash reads low. always has. is this cuz its not calibrated/set right or cuz its actually low? how could i check?

5. voltmeter reads zero. how do i set it up so it actually reads?

6. i have this perpetual strating problme in the mornings. when i first got the truck the choke would coem on right away. for a while now the engien lopes and runs really low rpms. i have to give it a good couple minutes of gas for it to warm up and the choke to engage. i feel this hurts my engine. is this related to my carb?

i know its a long post. sorry. any help greatly appreciated

 

[HotRodPC]

Yep, long post. Problem #1, is likely wheel balance problem, but it's aggrevated and made worse by some other worn front suspension parts. Still minor in nature though.
So your carb still has the OEM caps over the adjustment screws. They'll need to be broke out to make any adjustments if needed.
I'd hook up a manual known good oil pressure guage to the engine and see the oil pressure. Compare that to your dash readings and see if it's accurate.
Retro would be better to help with the O Volt meter issue. Might be the guage, might be break in the ciruit somewhere.
The oily sheen is likely some motor oil or trans fluid leaking off the motor and with travel and wind, it's being blown toward the back of the truck underneath. Possible rear main leak?
Sounds like the choke is adjusted to tight. That will make it hard to start since you need at least a crack in the butterfly to get some air for starting. And it's staying on to long to tight causing an extreme rich mixture when it's on, making the lope and at the same could be fouling plugs.

 

[2500sierra81]

thanks for the tips. could the hard start also be the funky EFE exhaust control thing not working as well? it doenst seem to be but its hard to tell cuz its hidden in the back.

 

[HotRodPC]

You lost me on that one.

 

[Swims350]

the oil pressure sending unit is cheap I'd change it.

As for being cold, sounds like a carb to me, may just need the choke adjusted to open more or early. personally I never run them. I just use my right foot to get it warmed up.

volts, gonna have to check the wiring, from alt. to the gauge, if the wire checks out the gauge is bad.

Honestly, go to your local auto parts store or online and buy a volt gauge, NOT AMP but volts, then it just wires into a switched hot and a ground. Simple and more trustworthy IMO.

As for the diff being oily, clean it with gunk engine degreaser or brake clean, carb cleaner something, then check it to find the leak.

Could be blowing back could be a pinions seal bad.

 

[Jims86]

thanks for the tips. could the hard start also be the funky EFE exhaust control thing not working as well? it doenst seem to be but its hard to tell cuz its hidden in the back.

HR, EFE is the valve on the passenger side exhaust manifold.
No, The efe helps exhaust through the crossover in the intake to help heat up the area under the carburetor to help to keep fuel from puddling in the intake when you start a cold engine.

 

[2500sierra81]

i cleaned the differential. it seems theres a small leak where the driveshaft meets the diff. is that the pinion seal?

for the new voltmeter i would have to chang eit in the dash. is it hard to remove the old one. could the volt thing just be a short in the dash wiring. because whn i turn my lights on the radiator temp gauge reads a tiny bit higher than before.

i think my choke problem is that the butterfly avalve doesnt sty open after i give it gas. usually it shoudl stick after brigning the gas pedal all the way down and then back up slowly. do you think it would be worth it to install a manual choke?

i would just warm the engine up with my right foot but since sometimes i have to do it at school and it smokes a lot of black smoke id rather have it start normally than have the whole parkign lot yelling at me. remember i live in califonia

 

[Jims86]

i cleaned the differential. it seems theres a small leak where the driveshaft meets the diff. is that the pinion seal?

for the new voltmeter i would have to chang eit in the dash. is it hard to remove the old one. could the volt thing just be a short in the dash wiring. because whn i turn my lights on the radiator temp gauge reads a tiny bit higher than before.

i think my choke problem is that the butterfly avalve doesnt sty open after i give it gas. usually it shoudl stick after brigning the gas pedal all the way down and then back up slowly. do you think it would be worth it to install a manual choke?

i would just warm the engine up with my right foot but since sometimes i have to do it at school and it smokes a lot of black smoke id rather have it start normally than have the whole parkign lot yelling at me. remember i live in califonia

Pop your air cleaner off, and shoot a pic of your carburetor, on the choke side.
I am busy the next couple of weekends, but I could look at and maybebtry adjusting it for you, if you dont mind travelling to the other end of I-580 +10 miles. I have a tach and vacuum gauge, as well as a timing light and over 20 years experience.

 

[Swims350]

the volt meter I was talking about installs where you want it not right in the dash.

where the driveshaft meets the diff. is indeed the pinion seal.

 

[2500sierra81]

Pop your air cleaner off, and shoot a pic of your carburetor, on the choke side.
I am busy the next couple of weekends, but I could look at and maybebtry adjusting it for you, if you dont mind travelling to the other end of I-580 +10 miles. I have a tach and vacuum gauge, as well as a timing light and over 20 years experience.

thanks for the offer but 100 miles to you is kinda far. plus my truck doenst go great on highway or gas mileage. i also know a mechanic around here that might be able to help me but if he cant figure it out i might come out but probably not before the second week of june. i'm busy till then

and swims how important is that pinion seal. its not a huge leak. should i just leave it as is? or is it easy to replace?

 

[Swims350]

I think it's easy, but if it aint bad then just keep check on the fluid level and live with the oily mess on things.

 

[crazy4offroad]

Removing the pinion yoke you will lose the pinion bearing preload, and it is nearly impossible to get it set back right with the carrier in place. I would check the pinion nut and pinion for looseness, if it is loose, replace the seal and use an impact to try to get the nut back tight again and the proper amount of preload. It's only about 24 inch-pounds of rotational resistance so be sure not to overtighten it. Be sure to use red high strength thread locker on the pinion threads as well.

But if the nut it tight and the pinion doesnt have play I would just keep gear oil in it for now.